UT basketball: NCAA seeds taking shape?

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Texas resumed its old dominant ways with a 74-54 victory over Oklahoma in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals, but the Longhorns haven’t made much headway in their bid to improve their NCAA tournament seeding.

The problem is the teams around UT keep dodging upsets. On Friday afternoon, North Carolina rallied from a 19-point deficit on Friday to beat Miami and Ohio State came from behind to beat Northwestern in overtime. On Thursday, Kansas, BYU and San Diego State all escaped potential losses as well.

Like the Longhorns, North Carolina, BYU and San Diego State all are pegged as potential No. 2 or No. 3 seeds in various NCAA tournament projections. Clearly, the sooner those teams lose in conference tournaments this week, the better it is for UT’s hopes of improving its seed.

For now, Joe Lunardi at ESPN.com has the Longhorns as a No. 2 seed, while Jerry Palm at CBS Sports has UT as a No. 3. Conceivably, the Longhorns still could snag a top seed if they win their first Big 12 tournament championship, but much could depend on how the other powerhouses fare over the weekend.